FORCE AMERICA
Membership: Birdman, Captain Hero, Clue, Cyberhead, Mother Earth, Shotgun, U-Boat
Purpose: To protect USA and be the country's
premier super-team
Affiliations: Birdboy, Burning Skull, William "Bull" Davidovich, Mutations (Bazooka, Clawfoot, Eyeglare, Hairball, Slush), O-Men, Power League, Skywomen, unidentified butler
Enemies: Boil Man, Dead Clown, Doctor Dreadful, Lee-Anne Rictus (loose), Sadistic Six (Acid Reign, Dr. Chia, Homewrecker, Rat Bastard, Resentment, Satan-in-a-Box)
Base of Operations: Force Mansion in New York,
USA (Earth-88469)
First Appearance: Dead Clown#1 (October, 1993)
History:
(Dead Clown#1 (fb) - BTS) - Force America was
installed as New York's premier super-team headquartered in the secure
Force Mansion with a personal butler. In the background, the powerful
corporation Petro Global cultivated the team's marketability with
licensed video games and action figures. The team's branding covered
bright costumes and many incorporated a G-string look over the
uniform. The team encountered super-villain group the Sadistic Six
several
times and eliminated their member Acid Reign in one fight, leaving the
Six's leader hungry for revenge. Other villains included Doctor
Dreadful and Boil Man. Meanwhile, William "Bull" Davidovich (CEO of
Petro Global) used the dangerous Dead Clown as a corporate icon, but
the clown went rogue, severely injuring Davidovich.
(Dead Clown#1) - The team's roster included the
super-strong leader Captain Hero, the flying Birdman, super-smart Clue,
cyborg Cyberhead, dirt-mover Mother Earth, gun-toting Shotgun, and
swimmer U-Boat. Being marketable was a heavy consideration for the New
York group, but this fostered rivalry, including leadership. Clue was
about to
formally challenge Captain Hero by vote when Davidovich ordered the
Captain lead the team to destroy Dead Clown (or lose licensing
revenue). An interruption by an obsessive fan, the self-dubbed Birdboy
who wanted to be Birdman's sidekick, led to the evasive Birdman
fleeing. Lacking quorum, Clue's leadership challenge was deferred.
After Force America left on their mission, the butler ignored a plea
for help from a bank on the team's Crisis Monitor. Elsewhere, Birdboy
foolishly revealed Force America's plans and internal workings to Dead
Clown, who set up a fake emergency call to lure the super-team with the
promise of camera footage. Force America confronted Dead Clown, but the
rogue easily manipulated internal rivalries so that the team viciously
fought each other.
(Dead Clown#2) - Captain Hero was the last member of Force America left standing. Weakened, he was hit by Dead Clown's oversized hammer and knocked out. The surviving team members were taken to the city hospital while Channel 7 news presenter Lee-Anne Rictus did a damaging piece on Force America, covering the damage and casualties, as well as the adverse impact from Dead Clown. Davidovich, flanked by the supportive Captain Hero, Birdman and Shotgun, spoke to reporters, while Dead Clown secretly killed the critically injured Mother Earth, Clue and Birdboy in their hospital beds. Seeing Force America weakened led to the vengeful Sadistic Six fighting the survivors at the hospital.
(Dead Clown#3 (fb) - BTS) - The battle between Force
America and the Sadistic Six was extremely brutal with thousands killed
and widespread property damage.
(Dead Clown#3) - Captain Hero and Davidovich were
severely reprimanded by Petro Global's board. Swearing revenge, the two
recruited an assortment of local heroes (via an advert in Hero Illustrated) to track down the
cunning Dead
Clown. However, Dead Clown disguised himself as skull-headed hero
Burning Skull to glean plans from Captain Hero. Realizing he'd been
fooled again, Captain Hero led the flaming torch-carrying super-powered
mob against Dead Clown, who warped reality to kill many. Captain Hero
managed to put Dead Clown in a headlock, but was pounded into the
ground in a surprise attack by the newly empowered Deathbird (actually
the resurrected Birdboy).
Comments: Created by Chris Ulm, Joel Thomas, and Bobby Rae.
Force America's battle cry was "Attack America!" I
think a comma is missing there; grammar can make a big difference.
Malibu's Dead Clown follows the violence and parody
of DC's Lobo (and later Marvel's Lunatik
- with a dash of What The--?).
Most members of Force America seem to fulfill certain super-hero team
archetypes (or is that stereotypes?); Captain Hero seems to be a
corrupted mash-up of Captain America and DC's Superman, while U-Boat
handles the generic water element found in many teams like Namor or
DC's
Aquaman, etc.
Profile by Grendel Prime.
CLARIFICATIONS:
Force America has no known connections to:
Birdman was a popular member of Force America and had
wings enabling flight. He could also flap them while standing to cause
heavy gusts of wind around him. Birdman was idolized by a fan
(self-dubbed Birdboy)
with a sidekick obsession and cause Birdman to flee to his own hideout,
the Birdhouse,
to escape. He
missed the public internal brawl set up by Dead Clown, but met up with
the surviving members of Force America at the hospital. Troublesome
reporters were deliberately blown away by Birdman's flapping wings. But
then he,
Shotgun and Captain Hero encountered arch-foes the Sadistic Six and
a bloody battle ensued. Birdman was not seen again and was likely a
casualty.
--Dead Clown#1 (2
Captain Hero was the gaudily clad and brash leader of
Force
America. He had super-human strength (able to hold a car with one
finger) and was armed with energy-emitting gloves (it's unrevealed if
these energy disks served as shields or shocks). He used his muscular
tall build to intimidate those who might challenge his leadership role
in Force America. However, he was himself bullied by the vengeful
William
"Bull" Davidovich into pursuing the rogue corporate figurehead Dead
Clown. He was fooled by Dead Clown into attending a fake rescue
scenario and
then easily duped into starting a public internal brawl with fellow
team-members. His enhanced strength and durability left him the last
one standing and he regrouped at the hospital where the survivors were
recuperating. There, Davidovich again pushed his personal vendetta, but
the remaining members of Force America encountered arch-foes the
Sadistic Six, and a brutal battle followed, killing many and causing
widespread damage.
As the apparent only survivor of the
clash of teams, Captain
Hero was chided by the corporate board before following Davidovich's
idea to recruit more heroes to hunt down Dead Clown. But the rogue
clown warped reality and killed off many heroes until the Captain
grabbed him in a headlock. However, an obsessive sidekick fanboy, newly
empowered by the demigod Death, pounded Captain Hero into the ground in
a surprise attack to destroy Dead Clown. If Captain Hero survived the
blow from Death's sidekick has been unrevealed.
--Dead Clown#1 (2-3
Clue was the super-intelligent strategist of the
team, but paranoid and ambitious to lead. Captain Hero used his
muscular size to bully Clue into submission. He wore a utility belt,
but no weaponry, and sought voting procedures for his personal internal
political machinations. Captain Hero saw him as an immediate threat and
targeted him first in the internal brawl, then quickly used Clue's body
to club opposing team members. Despite his slight frame, he survived
the fight and was taken to hospital in a critical but stable condition
with several
other surviving Force America members. But Dead Clown, keen to
eliminate the team targeting him, killed Clue in his hospital bed.
--Dead Clown#1 (2
Cyberhead was a cyborg, described as half-man and
half-machine. The armored part of his body was composed of strong
"Magnolium" and could be reconfigured. When Captain Hero accidentally
threw a car on U-Boat, the simplistic Cyberhead came to his friend's
defense, but Mother Earth instead pounded the cyborg with a giant fist
of dirt. He was the last to fall before Captain Hero's strength and
anger, his left arm ripped off. He was later listed as critically
injured, but not seen at the hospital with the other survivors.
--Dead Clown#1 (2
Mother Earth was a rotund woman who could manipulate
dirt into large shapes, such as 6' hands. She wore flowers in her hair.
She was protective of leader Captain Hero, pounding Cyberhead when he
threatened the Captain, then causing Shotgun to miss her target. She
was severely injured in Force America's internal brawl and taken to
hospital with other survivors, where she was stabilized. However, Dead
Clown wanted to eliminate the super-group hunting him and so crept into
the hospital and killed her.
--Dead Clown#1 (2
Shotgun handled a variety of high-caliber guns, but
her aim was poor. She relied on shooting in the general direction, but
this resulted in many unintentional bystander casualties and injuries.
Shotgun survived the internal brawl and stood alongside Birdman and
Captain Hero at the hospital.
She likely perished in the final conflict with the Sadistic Six.
With her skimpy outfit, big guns and exaggerated body
curves, she now looks like a parody image of 1990s comic art.
--Dead Clown#1 (2
U-Boat was friends with Cyberhead and was keen for
the spotlight and being seen on camera. He rushed in with most of Force
America in response to Dead Clown's bogus emergency call. When Captain
Hero initiated the internal fight, he was accidentally hit by a thrown
car, seemingly automatically turning into water before re-forming and
being caught up in the fierce fight with each other. He was later
listed as critically injured, but not seen at the hospital.
U-Boat was apparently German, given the
exaggerated
accent. His powers were not fully revealed (although they were clearly
water
related), but he seemed to turn into water when a car fell on him. His
uniform had a fin on the back and elbows, plus a scuba diving mask as a
visor.
--Dead Clown#1 (2
Lee-Anne Rictus was a correspondent/presenter for
Channel 7 news. She reported on the "Clown Crisis" wherein Ghastly the
Dead Clown went rogue, affecting share prices and profits of his
affiliated company, Petro Global Inc. She showcased Force America's
failure to apprehend Ghastly, plus the damage caused by the team's
public brawl, and had reporters harass the surviving
Force America members and the severely injured Davidovich at the
hospital.
--Dead Clown#2
images:
(without ads)
Dead Clown#1, p11, pan3 (main image)
Dead Clown#2, p7, pan2 (casualty headshots + logo)
Dead Clown#2, p10, pan5 (Birdman)
Dead Clown#3, p5, pan4 (Captain Hero)
Dead Clown#2, p1, pan3 (Cyberhead)
Dead Clown#1, p23, pan5 (Mother Earth)
Dead Clown#2, p18, pan2 (Shotgun)
Dead Clown#1, p24 (U-Boat)
Dead Clown#2, p7, pan2 (Rictus)
Appearances:
Dead Clown#1 (October, 1993) - Chris Ulm (writer), Joel Thomas
(pencils), Bobby Rae (inks), Roland Mann (editor)
Dead Clown#2 (November, 1993) - Chris Ulm (writer), Joel Thomas
(pencils), Bobby Rae (inks), Roland Mann (editor)
Dead Clown#3 (February 1994) - Chris Ulm (writer), Phil Gosier
(pencils), Bobby Rae (inks), Roland Mann (editor)
First posted:
11/16/2018
Last updated:
02/18/2022
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
Non-Marvel Copyright info
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